Discrimination?

CHICAGO — You recently reported that the U.S. Court of Appeals ``said that Milwaukee-based Johnson Controls, Inc. does not violate federal law by barring women of child-bearing age from working in its battery manufacturing plants.`` We should not allow policies which single out a group of people for special treatment if there is a less restrictive alternative to the policy. There are other ways Johnson Controls could protect its female workers from exposure to lead at levels which might harm their unborn children.

1) It could further explore engineering controls to reduce airborne lead levels in the workplace; 2) it could provide respirators to reduce the amount of lead inhaled by the workers; or, 3) it could rotate workers between jobs in the lead area and jobs in other areas of the plant to reduce overall exposure.